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10.31.2024

Ellie's Senior Photos, Part 1 | Kruja Edition

After years of orthodontia, Ellie finally was rid of her braces so we could take her long-awaited senior portraits! Below, I share the vision behind these images, the meaning of her costume and instrument choice, a bit of history about the locations, and the experience of photographing our daughter in Albania's most popular tourist hotspot!


Ever since Ellie was a young girl, I've dreamed of dressing her up in the traditional costume of central Albania.  The full skirt over blousy pants with embroidered ankle cuffs.... the diaphanous flared sleeves, embroidered with gold thread and iridescent sequins... the neat scarlet jacket vest framed by a ruffly collar...


Raising her in the country of her birth, I thought such a images would pay tribute to her heritage.

After all, Albanian folk music is rife with imagery of Albanians dancing in these costumes surrounded by a cadre of musicians playing the ciftelia (two-stringed wooden instrument), sharkija (what she is holding above), lahuta (one-string played with a bow), fyelli (pipes), and daullja (drums). 

And without doubt, Ellie has music running through her blood in spades.


As we approached this milestone in her life, I began thinking of a good place for this once-in-a-lifetime photo session. It had to have olive trees.  And stone walls. (See the ancient stone olive press lying in the background below)


Having taken visitors many times to the capital of Albania in the Middle Ages, Kruja, it is a place with which we are quite familiar, though just far enough away that we would have to devote a good half-day to this venture.


Some years ago we found a quiet place within the castle walls tucked away from the more popular touristy spot.  A guide once told us that in this lower corner of the castle compound Albania's ancient hero, Skenderbeg, made a daring escape through a secret exit point whilst the Ottomans held the city under siege.  That is how we found this spot which has been the site of multiple family photos.

We arrived around 10:00 in the morning and the light couldn't have been more perfect. Most photographers avoid bright sun but we found the light fantastic. And the October weather meant we weren't melting in summer heat and humidity.


Earlier this year Ellie purchased this beautiful instrument called a sharkija, to add to her instrument collection.  It was the ideal prop and perfectly completed her outfit.


We rented the costume from our friend Roza Koni, a talented seamstress in a neighboring village. She is known throughout the country for her work in creating these costumes as well as designing beautiful contemporary gowns.  (She made Ellie's blue gown which she wore last summer for Luli and Hannah's wedding.)  

Walking from the parking lot to our photo locations, Ellie was frequently stopped by tourists for a photo.  She was more than happy to oblige.  In fact, that may have been her favorite part of the day!
 

Below, Ellie poses outside the door to the ancient hamam.  This public bathhouse was built in the late 1400s and consists of four rooms.


It is considered the oldest hammam in all of Albania and was renovated in 2015, though to our knowledge it has never been open to the public.


We love the overlook on the castle wall following the mountain range south.


There was a beautiful Byzantine church-turned-mosque (you can make out the edges to Ellie's left in the image below), but it suffered serious damage in the 2019 earthquake and is now supported by some very unattractive (but hopefully temporary) scaffolding.

I brought my DSLR camera but never ended up using it.  Poor Nathan lugged it around on his back with my assorted lenses. All of these images were taken on a Samsung s23. Mistake number one -- I did not change the aspect ratio of my cell phone for these images... 9:16 would have better suited this image.  


And this one too...


Outside of the church/mosque stands an ancient olive tree.  Tradition was that a married couple planted ten olive trees to commemorate their union.  The tree under which Ellie sits (below) is attributed to having been planted by Skanderbeg himself!



The overlook, mosque, and olive tree are behind the wall, up the walkway behind Ellie.  Underneath the wallway/bridge is the access to the secret exit through the castle walls...


1.) The entrance to Kruja's castle features a tunnel with little cut-outs, much like the entrances to city walls in Bible-times. The light bounced off the cobblestones for a lovely, dramatic effect.  I have a favorite image on Instagram of Ellie posing with a musician in this same spot many years ago.

2.) If you note the coins on her hat, this represented a young woman's dowry.  This is how we now understand the Parable of the Lost Coin...


The highlight for most tourists visiting Kruja is a shopping visit to the Old Bazaar.  It's full of treasures ranging from mass-produced tchotchkes like magnets, t-shirts, and ashtrays to artisanal hand-woven wool rugs, carved olivewood bowls and utensils, silver filigree jewelry, antique military garb, ancient coins, paintings, and relics of communism.


Ellie's hands indicate she is Shqiptare (Albanian) and represent the double-headed eagle, the symbol on the nation's flag that pays homage to Skenderbeg's family crest.


Our silversmith friend, Fazan, unveiled his latest piece and let Ellie be the first to wear it.  The design imitates jewelry design from several hundreds of years ago.


I would be remiss to not post Ellie's favorite image (below)


These were taken at the site of the old city well. 


My dad would probably wrinkle his nose because of the lack of sunlight, but to me, Ellie looked like the real life version of a painting -- if 15th-century Albanian women wore glasses, lol.


Below, Ellie poses with Fazan, the silver jeweler.


Enjoying a celebratory coffee upon the conclusion of our shoot.


Second, after being asked to pose for photos with tourists, her favorite part of the shoot might have been having her parents to herself (Reni stayed home to work on school).

Thank you for listening to my rambles about these images of our daughter.  Coincidentally, they were taken on the 18th anniversary of receiving the phone call informing us that she had been matched to our family. We thank God for entrusting us with this beautiful young lady that we call daughter. What a journey it has been! 

10.28.2024

Handmade in Albania Open for Seasonal Orders!


For 15 years, we have had a small poject to connect women in the village with a market for handcrafted goods.  This way they have a means of earning extra income for their families by selling products they have created at home. We aim to help women who do not have employment outside of their home so they can be present for their children.

Handmade in Albania -- Garlands

Last year I was in the USA and unable to supervise the project from afar.  Since then, a few of the women have left the project as they now have employment.  Another has emigrated for cancer treatment abroad.  That leaves Merita, mother of two (ages 11 and 5).




Merita is super talented and brings a young woman's eye to her designs and color choices.  She asks me frequently how sales are going!


Maybe you live in a warm weather climate and think, "I don't need a winter scarf?"  We have garlands for decorating your home for the season, birthday party, or baby/bridal shower!  Hang a garland on your tree, bookshelf, railing, or as a window dressing.


All of the products come with a photo of the knitter who made the product, and a sewn in tag with their name, so that long after your purchase, you can be reminded to pray for the knitter, for Albania, for the ministry in village, etc. every time you use it!  
This also makes these items very meaningful gifts!

We still have an extensive inventory of products made in previous years that I have marked down 50%, so you can find many great deals!

Handmade in Albania Scarves


Tiffany will be traveling to the USA on November 11 to deliver orders, so please place your order by November 10!

I am so grateful for your support of this project.  I feel like all of my friends and family have so many scarves and hats, they can't surely need any more, ha ha.

Please know that every sale is a blessing and encouragement.  We don't take your purchase for granted!

It's also an affirmation of hard work, skill, and creativity that ministers to these women more than you can imagine.

Thank you,

Cydil

Shop:  www.HandmadeInAlbania.org

Follow us and share our posts with others at: https://www.instagram.com/handmadeinalbania/

10.07.2024

September 2024 | Sweet Memories, Abundant Blessings

September is a lovely month in Albania... the pervasive heat relents, the crush of summer visitors tapers off, and life resumes a routine.  The best part is that these transitions are more gradual than a flip of a calendar page.

We started the month off with dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Tirana to see Reni's paternal grandmother!  It had been about three years since we had seen her! 




Exercise classes resumed and I'm trying to get back into shape after a spring of sporadic attendance on my part.  Most evenings I was cooking for guests which meant I missed classes!  We also took a hiatus in July and August because of the heat and wow -- I have a lot of catching up to do!


On September 4 Mom and Hannah arrived! 



It was so kind of them to come and spend ten days with us.


They also serve as pack mules, delivering our Amazon orders and bringing other special treats!  Below, Ellie received her first electric guitar, purchased with her own money. She has already created some beautiful tunes, including using it to write and record the theme song for the Royal Servants podcast! Fast forward to the closing credits to hear our favorite part of the song...


We visited friends...

Enjoyed special treats like going out for coffee...


Enjoyed a staff meeting...


Give greetings at church...

Play table games...


Dinner at our friends' home, the Konis'...


Mom brought over iron-on transfers for the Crikut machine.  Nathan had too much fun.


Part of the reason for the timing of Mom and Hannah's visit was to stay with the kids while Nathan and I took a trip for our 25th wedding anniversary.  I don't know that we would have planned anything so special except she had given us some funds last Christmas for this purpose.  It was a very special treat and we enjoyed seeing a new-to-us place, taking lots of photos, and learning new things! It will remain a life-long memory! We will spare you the highlights of our cameral roll and share this one image from which maybe you can guess where we went... (hint: we didn't leave the continent).

The wonders of camera AI that (mostly) removed all of the tourists behind us, ha ha.

And now, BACK TO THE REAL WORLD...

Speaking of unexpected gifts, a previous guest left funds for us to purchase a new blue-tooth speaker to replace our other much-used portable speaker that only works when you slap with just the right force in a certain place on the right side... We identified a unit and then when we got around to deciding we should buy it, it went on sale! We use a speaker for so many events from kids club to gym class.  Thank you, D, for this gift!!


"Study Hall" hours resumed on Tuesdays and Thursdays with school.  Below, Ellie helps quiz Sela on her English homework.


How special to see Luli deliver the message at church one Friday evening!


It was also sweet to see my friend Arjana, who moved to Italy last year to pursue cancer treatment, come back to the village for a brief visit. 


We said 'goodbye' to our friend "S" (16) who has been a regular fixture at Jeta. This country is hemorrhaging teens and young adults like him who seek employment opportunities outside of the country. On top of a declining birthrate it's situations like this that lend credence to predictions that Albania will boast the oldest country in the world by 2050.


On September 18 we welcomed the Handwork family back to Vlashaj for a month. Our backyard neighbor, L, was thrilled for his best friend to return!


Ellie has resumed teaching music at VT Albania every Wednesday! Below she is featured with the boys in Group 1.



I follow her music classes with teaching a mix of English and Bible.  We are working through a different day of creation each week!  I don't have a photo of myself teaching so I will substitute it with an image of VT's lunch one day...


Near the end of September, we celebrated our dear friend Shpresa's birthday with a yummy cake at Bible study!  We so appreciate Shpresa's sweet spirit and faithful service to the Word and helping us understand and apply it to our lives!


As area team leader for the Balkan region of WGM-Europe, Nathan meets with each of our teammates on a monthly basis.  Below, we had coffee with the Artonis at a new dessert house which opened about 10 minutes up the highway from our village! If you visit us, we will take you there!


International grocery store chains are shifting to more and more English wording on their products (when we moved here, I calculated that most items we bought were potentially in one of about half a dozen different languages, depending on the country of origin). Below, the translation of these cups of ramen amused me.  But no judgment -- I'm sure my Albanian language skills are also the source of amusement to some!


One morning at Kids Club, Jaz found this little buddy had made his way into the kalceto!





Our big project for the month of September consisted of chasing down documents and crafting text for a grant proposal. Below, Nathan and Mandi pose in front of the municipality offices while they wait for a signature.


We have little experience in this arena but we believe that like most things, practice makes perfect.  We did not seek out this grant but embarked on this process as co-applicants with another like-minded ministry.  They have been great mentors to us in the process.  We are trusting God with the outcome, but if we win, it could help us further develop the practical training we offer through VT Albania to individuals with disabilities.


If you have ever visited the village of Metalle with us, you will know it's not far, but the road conditions substantially lengthen travel time.  Imagine our surprise to drive up one Saturday morning for kids club to discover this!


It meant that Nathan had to park the van and the team had to walk the remaining distance, but a small price to pay for the convenience of making future trips on asphalt and less wear on our vehicles!


Finally, the last pic of the month:  Ellie gets a much-needed hair trim.  We hope to capture her senior photos soon and this was a necessary first step.